Alpha Puzzle
Ray-traced (POVRay v3.1)
2001

This is a still frame from an animation I created to visualize the solution computed automatically by my motion planning software.  (Learn more about the RRT-Connect path planning algorithm).

The "Alpha Puzzle" Benchmark (click image to download MPEG movie = 5.1 MB)

A balanced, bidirectional RRT-Connect path planner was used to solve the "Alpha Puzzle" motion planning benchmark.  This problem is a well-known difficult problem due to the very narrow passage in the configuration space.  My implementation was the first planner to consistently solve this problem. Original Model courtesy of:  Boris Yamrom, Computer Graphics and Systems Group, GE CRD, and made available by the DSMFT group at Texas A and M.